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Name: NEWLAND, Victor Marra OBE, MC, DCM
Nee: 3rd son of Simpson Newland of South Australia
Birth Date: 18.8.1876 Marra Station, Wilcannia, New South Wales
Death Date: 12.1.1953 Adelaide, Australia
Nationality: Australian
First Date: 1904
Last Date: 1919
Profession: In 1904 with his friend and partner, Leslie Jefferis Tarlton, he established a safari outfitting firm. HBEA has him as Hon. V.M. Newland in 1912. They were the first residents of Parklands. EAHB 1905 - Victoria St., Nairobi
Area: Nairobi
Married: In North Adelaide, Australia 1908 Elsie Margaret Porter b. 24 Aug 1879 Adelaide, d. 11 Feb 1950 North Adelaide, Australia
Children: Margaret Jean Elizabeth (Parklands, Nairobi 21.1.1910-5 July 1944 Sefton Park, S. Australia); Elaine (12 Mar 1913 Nairobi-13 June 1996 South Australia)
Book Reference: Gillett, SE, HBEA, Cuckoo, McCutcheon, Cranworth, Rediscovered, Roosevelt, Land, EAHB 1905, KAD, Red 25, Hut, North, Playne, EA & Rhodesia, Drumkey, Red 22, Advertiser, EAHB 1906, Gazette, EAHB 1907, Web, Leader14, Chandler, Red Book 1912, LG
War Service: S.A. Mounted Rifles in the SA War 1899-1900 and KAR in WW1 (Major)
School: Queen's School and St Peter's College, Adelaide
General Information:
SE - V.M. Newland - June 1909
Cuckoo - 1904 - With Henry Tarlton applied for a certain tract of land near Naivasha. This was duly acknowledged, and tentatively granted by the Lands Officer, towards the latter part of 1903. When the partners arrived in Nbi. from Johannesburg, however, they were blandly informed that the land provisionally granted them now could not be confirmed. The local Govt. had suddenly decided to reserve the whole of the Naivasha area for the Masai tribe. Too late for Newland and Tarlton's purpose, this order was later rescinded. Meanwhile they were offered an alternative site to the north of Nakuru, but finally accepted a 1,000-acre farm in the Kiambu district and a 10-acre residential plot in the new area demarcated for Parklands suburb.
Lack of sufficient capital soon compelled them to sell the Kiambu farm to a new-comer - at an absurdly low price. They started in business as E.A.'s first auctioneers and estate agents. It was a courageous undertaking. After a few lean and difficult years, they won through to success.
Cranworth - 1906 - Nairobi - met at the station by Victor Newland, the big-game outfitter, who later became a great personal friend. ........... 'shortly before the War joined the board of Newland and Tralton. Original partners were V.M. Newland, Leslie Tarlton and Claude Tritton. Tritton ran the London end - he had been running a seed store in Nairobi and arrived in Nairobi some 2 years before us. Newland and Tarlton had come out as young men with some ludicrously small capital, I think about £200, and had built up what was till the war about the biggest business in the country ..... The original business of N. & T. had extended with great rapidity, and to it had been grafted on two most admirable side-lines in land agency and auctioneering ....….
N. & T. hadn't a monopoly in any of their main enterprises. The Boma Trading Co. competed in the outfitting, and H.F. Ward in the land agency, but it is safe to say that 75% of the business in each direction was retained, and that was enough to produce a very handsome profit indeed. Tarlton was the principal in the shooting Dept. He was himself a noted hunter and a remarkable rifle shot, with a bag of lions to his credit. Newland was the prime mover in everything else, and even found time to be a Legislative Councillor, and a most efficient one withal. He was the hardest-working man I've known ..... the downfall was, not, as cobblers, sticking to their last; ill luck; and Newland's absence during the Great War. After the war they stocked up for the anticipated boom which never came. - they employed 37 Europeans at an average salary of £500 p.a. .................. When Newland and Tarlton folded .... Newland himself left the Colony, broken-hearted, for Australia, the country of his birth. It was good to see him again recently in Adelaide flourishing financially, and once again serving his fellow-citizens as a Member of Parliament.
Roosevelt - Tarlton's partner, Newland - also an Australian, and as fine a fellow as Tarlton himself - once had a rather eerie adventure with a man-eating lion. He was camped near Kilimakiu, and after nightfall the alarm was raised that a lion was nearby. He came out of his tent, more wood was thrown on the fire, and he heard footsteps retreating, but could not make out whether they were those of a lion or hyena. Going back to his tent, he lay down on his bed with his face turned to the tent wall. Just as he was falling to sleep the canvas was puched almost into his face by the head of some creature outside; immediately afterward he heard the sound of a heavy animal galloping, and then the scream of one of his porters, whom the lion had siezed and was dragging off into the darkness. Rushing out with his rifle, he fired toward the sounds, shooting high; the lion let go his hold and made off, and the man ultimately recovered.
Land Grant 1905? - V.M. Newland - Agricultural, 512 acres - Kasarani River - Homestead - Freehold. Further Grant - Building, 1 plot, 50 ft. by 75 ft. - Government Road, Nairobi - Mar 5 - Leasehold
KAD 1922 - Nairobi Municipal Councillor
Red 25 - Chairman, Municipal Committee, Nairobi 1921
Playne - Newland, Tarlton & Co. Ltd. - The sportsman bent on big game shooting in BEA, perhaps the finest district in the world for his purpose, is always anxious to obtain some fore-knowledge of the condition of things generally, and to know what provision he must make to meet the particular requirements of the country in which he proposes to travel. He could not do better in the circumstances than to consult Messrs Newland, Tarlton & Co. Ltd., of Nairobi, who will willingly supply him with any information he needs, and, if so desired, will fit out any expedition he has in view. The firm was established in 1904 as land and stock agents, and in 1905 started safari outfitting, and has been associated with this country for the last 5 years. Mr V.M. Newland was born in South Australia, as also was Mr L.J. Tarlton, their respective fathers both having been pioneers in that colony. Mr C.H. Tritton, another partner, manages the London business, his father being a partner in Barclay's Bank, London.
East Africa & Rhodesia - 5/3/53 - Mr Victor Murray Newland, an early settler in Kenya, and a founder of the safari business of Newland and Tarlton, Ltd., who went to the Colony after the South African War in 1902, has died in Australia at the age of 76. At one time he was a nominated member of the Legislature, and he was past president of the Associated Chambers of Commerce of Eastern Africa and a former Chairman of Nairobi Town Council. After his return to Australia he became MP for North Adelaide, sitting from 1933 to 1938. He is survived by two daughters living in Australia.
Drumkey 1909 - Cattle Brand - T1N - Newland & Tarlton
Red 22 - President, Nairobi Political Association
Land 1909 - V.M. Newland, L.J. Tarlton, C.H. Tritton and others - Stock Sale Yards, 5 acres - Nakuru - 6/6/06 - Leasehold for 25 years from 1/1/09 - Registered 17/7/09
Land - 1910 - V.M. Newland - Agriculture, 1100 acres - Juba River - 22/6/10 - Leasehold under Occupation Licence for 2 to 99 years from 1/8/10 - Registered 20/9/10
Land - 1911 - V.M. Newland and S. McCall - Grazing and agricultural, 1000 acres - Molo River - 9/6/10 - Freehold - Registered 8/8/11
Advertiser - 1/1/09 - Advert - V.M. Newland leaving for Australia to buy stock
Advertiser - 21/1/1909 - Mr Newland ……. Intends bringing back as his wife Miss Porter, daughter of Mr J.W. Porter one of the leading business men in Adelaide
Gazette - 4/11/1914 - Appt. - East Africa Transport Corps - To be Lieutenant - V.M. Newland
Gazette - 4/11/1914 - Appt. - EATC - To be Captain - Lieutenant V.M. Newland
North - Land Grant application, Elmenteita 18/12/1903; Bird Licence, Naivasha 18/2/1904; Land Grant applications, Homestead, Kasarni River 6/3/1904 & Kikuyu Road 16/3/1904
Web - Australian Dictionary of Biography - Newland returned to Adelaide in 1919, formed the firm V.M. Newland & Hunter, and joined the Stock Exchange in 1923. In 1933-38 he represented North Adelaide for the Liberal and Country League in the House of Assembly. Survived by 2 daughters, Newland died in Adelaide on 12 January 1953
Red Book 1912 - V.M. Newland - Nairobi
London Gazette - 23 Feb 1917 - granted temporary rank for service with the Forces in East Africa - as Major
London Gazette - 18 Nov 1918 - OBE for distinguished service in connection with military operations in East Africa - Major Victor Marra Newland MC, EA Transport Corps
Gazette - 4/5/1921 - Presentation of Honours by Governor - Major V M Newland - OBE
Gazette - 4/5/1921 - Presentation of Honours by Governor - Major V M Newland - MC
Gazette 16 Jan 1951 wife's probate